New EX-4 - Including pellet ramp and welded auger?

[jmccrack650]

Just received my new EX-4 today. It appears it may have the upgraded parts already installed.

It definitely has the pellet ramp, but it is hard to tell if it has the new welded auger or not. Photo attached, and it does appear black like the photos I have seen of the new part.

If it is indeed the new parts, this is good news for people on the fence about purchasing until they are included in production models.

 

[Bruno]

That isn’t the welded auger.

 

[jmccrack650]

That is unfortunate

 

[dudemcnally]

That is unfortunate

I'd say give it a try.
I bought my SF at the end of February. I have neither the pellet ramp, nor the welded auger chute and my grill works extremely well. It's not like I only use it once a month either, 4 nights per week minimum. I smoked chuck roast on it yesterday for 7 hours and they were delicious.

Give it a shot!

 

[jmccrack650]

I'd say give it a try.
I bought my SF at the end of February. I have neither the pellet ramp, nor the welded auger chute and my grill works extremely well. It's not like I only use it once a month either, 4 nights per week minimum. I smoked chuck roast on it yesterday for 7 hours and they were delicious.

Give it a shot!

Yes, I will definitely give it a shot for now and see if I have issues. Burn in planned for later today, and then flank steak tonight, pizza tomorrow, pulled pork on Sunday

Should give it a good test.

 

[jmccrack650]

So far so good... Burn-in complete. Reached 600 F in 12 min in 0 C / 32 F weather with some flurries.

Next up Flank steak. Do most people crank up to full 600 F to grill steak? That is much higher than I would have typically done on my gas grill.

 

[Bruno]

I'd say give it a try.
I bought my SF at the end of February. I have neither the pellet ramp, nor the welded auger chute and my grill works extremely well. It's not like I only use it once a month either, 4 nights per week minimum. I smoked chuck roast on it yesterday for 7 hours and they were delicious.

Give it a shot!

View attachment 818

I’m in the same boat, my SmokeFire is original, I have the hopper ramp and the black welded auger, I haven’t had anything to crazy yet m, but I do need to do the welded chute soon. Temp fluctuations are annoying.

 

[dudemcnally]

So far so good... Burn-in complete. Reached 600 F in 12 min in 0 C / 32 F weather with some flurries.

Next up Flank steak. Do most people crank up to full 600 F to grill steak? That is much higher than I would have typically done on my gas grill.

I haven't done flank, but I typically cook skirt steak for fajitas and that's very similar. I absolutely use 600F, my process is to get it up to temp and put the meat on for 2 min with lid closed, then flip and 2 more min. At that point I evaluate, depending on thickness it may need 1 more min per side...just depends on how you like your beef cooked. I prefer less done, but since I'm cooking for my family, I try to cook to a hard medium.

 

[Mikedub]

I'd say give it a try.
I bought my SF at the end of February. I have neither the pellet ramp, nor the welded auger chute and my grill works extremely well. It's not like I only use it once a month either, 4 nights per week minimum. I smoked chuck roast on it yesterday for 7 hours and they were delicious.

Give it a shot!

View attachment 818

 

[Mikedub]

What firmware you have? 4003 or 4008?

 

[Kari]

Hi Mikedub, sounds great your SF works so well, I`m happy for that. What pellets you have use or have you try other brand pellets? Asking that because many SF owner have some issues with pellets, me also. I have use Weber pellets in start but try last week those Traeger pellets and get some issues with temperature stability. I really dont know is it because of pellets or what but just curious...

 

[jmccrack650]

I did my first low and slow cook on the weekend (pulled pork). 7 hour cook at 225 with no issues. Initially it did drop to about 180 and I got worried, but that resolved itself in about 10 minutes. After that it stayed at 225 the whole time. I did not open the lid which likely helped.

For my own sanity I did not use an additional probe to independently monitor the grill temp, so there could have been larger swings than I realized.

I am using lumberjack pellets.

 

[dudemcnally]

I did my first low and slow cook on the weekend (pulled pork). 7 hour cook at 225 with no issues. Initially it did drop to about 180 and I got worried, but that resolved itself in about 10 minutes. After that it stayed at 225 the whole time. I did not open the lid which likely helped.

For my own sanity I did not use an additional probe to independently monitor the grill temp, so there could have been larger swings than I realized.

I am using lumberjack pellets.

The consensus is the last firmware update seems to cause some temp swings to the low end. For example, you set the grill to 225 and it may hit 225, then swing back to 190 before easing back up to 225. IMO, this seems to be the firmware trying to do anything to keep from overshooting the temperature. In any case this seems to me to be related to the algorithm and something that will be tweaked with subsequent software releases.
I cooked a turkey breast yesterday for 6 hours @ 225. My external temp probe read 210 on the low side, and 227 on the high. But there was a brief period during the startup stabilization where it dropped back to 185...IMO, nothing to worry about.

The turkey was delicious BTW!

 

[OILBOY1162]

The consensus is the last firmware update seems to cause some temp swings to the low end. For example, you set the grill to 225 and it may hit 225, then swing back to 190 before easing back up to 225. IMO, this seems to be the firmware trying to do anything to keep from overshooting the temperature. In any case this seems to me to be related to the algorithm and something that will be tweaked with subsequent software releases.
I cooked a turkey breast yesterday for 6 hours @ 225. My external temp probe read 210 on the low side, and 227 on the high. But there was a brief period during the startup stabilization where it dropped back to 185...IMO, nothing to worry about.

The turkey was delicious BTW!

I also did a turkey on Sunday. 225 for about 5 1/2 hours. Saw those low temps a certain times. Made me nervous I had a flameout till I heard more pellets hitting the pot and the temps came backup. As yours brind Turkey was super moist,tender, and delicious. Now for turkey soup!

 

[jmccrack650]

Doing chicken thighs right now. Quickly heated up to 250, but then dropped to 180 after putting food on. Took about 25 minutes to come back to 250, but seems to be holdings steady now